Twentieth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

As the United States grows more diverse in ethnically and culturally the early childhood teacher workforce for the most part has remained unchanged; most teachers are white, middle class women (Warren, 2015). Potentially, the dissimilarities between teacher and student, particularly English Language learners and refugee students, could negatively influence the effectiveness of learning environments. In addition, in the United States the effects of standards-based, high-stakes education policy and practice are increasingly felt within teacher education programs (Cochran-Smith et al., 2016; Wepner, 2006; Whitenack & Swanson, 2013). Many pre-service teachers spent the entire course of their Pre-Kindergarten-12th grade careers in schools influences by this policy (Brown, 2010). Often their idea of best practice is didactic and formulaic in nature, focusing on isolated math and English language arts skills, with an absence of authentic, hands-on experiences with social studies focusing on multiculturalism and diversity (Darling-Hammond, 2004). As a result in many cases, pre-service teachers did not experience developmentally appropriate practice themselves and at times lack critical thinking skills to understand how to create these optimal learning experiences. This paper describes specific strategies early childhood teacher educators need to be strategic in the planning and delivery of their methods courses to insure pre-service teachers learn the theory and observe developmentally appropriate culturally relevant instruction for all young children from all background in order to yield young learners who are well adjusted and who possess the critical thinking skills they need to meet with success in school settings (Cunningham, 2014; Pierce, Smith Mowry, 2015).